Stinkin’ Thinkin’

In What Would Happen If You Weren't Successful On This Thing? From @DavidGeurin Blog, David Geurin asks,

“What would happen if you weren't successful on this one thing?”

I’m a worrier. I worry about the things I worry about. I can’t help myself. But that worrying can cause what I call - stinkin’ thinkin’ and it can put me into a state of paralysis.

I worry about what might happen and then I’m unable to act, in any way. I don’t act in a positive or negative way. I just am frozen. I want to do something, but I can’t.

For some reason, the hardest thing for me to do is to remember to think about what would happen if I’m not successful. I’m really trying hard to change my thinking so that I take risks. I know the risks may seem silly to you when you look at the things I’ve tried this year but for me, they were huge. I made the risks bigger than they should have been.

This is what I want my students to see. I want them to see that I made the obstacles in my mind bigger than they should have been.

I’ve always wanted to draw but I know I’m not good like my oldest sister is. My sister-in-law is a wonderful artist. I don’t want to draw anything big but I want to draw little things. So, I started to draw in my journal and when I started writing to my parents, I started to do some envelope art. Sometimes I have trouble getting started, but what will happen if I don’t succeed? I can just toss the paper. I haven’t even wasted time because it is good practice. I really like how some of my drawings have turned out.

I wanted to knit a sweater, but I kept putting it off. Finally, I made it and I love how it turned out. I love wearing it. But I had to remind myself that if I wasn’t successful, I would just have to rip out the yarn and use it for something else. I enjoy the act of knitting so the time I spent making it was relaxing. I feel this way every time I start knitting a new project and have to remind myself that the only thing that can happen is that I have to rip it out and start on something else.

I went to a faculty holiday party last week and I was so excited to go. Then when the time came, I didn’t want to go but I went anyway. I figured the worst thing would be to not see anyone I knew and have no one to talk to. I went anyway and saw some people I knew. I talked with many that I didn’t know so I guess it was a successful evening.

How do you help your students get over this stinkin’ thinkin’? Please share.

Photo by Jaredd Craig on Unsplash

-->